


Everybody Talks

by SkepticalBeliever



Series: Tales of Gina Martin [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Friendship/Love, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-25 07:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7524007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkepticalBeliever/pseuds/SkepticalBeliever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gina nodded, worrying her lip. Sinclair and Wick’s conversation had her mind whirling. Normally, she ignored gossip but the whole situation with the Griffins was weird. Right? She said as much to Bellamy. “I mean, why are they being so tight-lipped about it? Normally they publicize transgressions, in some small way, to set an example for the people on the Ark. How do they expect us to stay in line if we don’t even know what they did wrong to begin with?”</p>
<p>Bellamy shrugged. “The whole thing has been pretty need-to-know,” he said carefully. “I’m just a cadet… So, obviously not your reliable source of Griffin-related news.”</p>
<p>She pressed her lips in a tight line. “Right. Still a shame though.”</p>
<p>“Yeah. He seemed like a decent enough guy the handful of times I talked to him during a guard rotation.”</p>
<p>“Not a fan of the daughter?” She wondered for the first time in months if Clarke ever got another chance to draw him.</p>
<p>“Never met the princess,” he admitted, “and, frankly, I don’t really care one way or another. Doesn’t affect me and I’ve got bigger things to worry about.”</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>Or rumors are flying and Bellamy isn't handling it well. But then he makes a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everybody Talks

**Author's Note:**

> Part two of Tales of Gina Martin. If you haven't read the first one, I recommend doing so because it provides a bit of setup for this installment. Anyway...enjoy!

Gina had not given the girl with the drawing much thought since that quiet evening in the bar. Clarke had not returned during any of Gina’s shifts, although the elusive Bellamy made a few more appearances. She learned through short conversations with him that he was a cadet, that he was not overly fond of his superior (she could hardly blame him; Shumway was an ass), that he lived with his mother on Factory Station, and that he sometimes helped her with the mending. During these short interludes, he would ask her a little about herself and listen politely as she told him about student teaching, about the funny and insightful things her students would say, and about the books they were currently covering in class. Bellamy’s eyes always lit up with interest whenever she talked about the books, but he never ventured an opinion of his own. Still, she suspected that, if pressed, he would probably have a lot to say on such matters; she filed that thought away along with all the other little factoids that made up Bellamy Blake.

No, with everything else going on in her life, Gina had not spared Clarke a second thought. But then Jake Griffin was floated for treason and his daughter was locked in the skybox, and suddenly Clarke’s name was everywhere.

The problem with living in a place like the Ark is that, despite the fact that nobody actually _knows_ everybody, somehow everyone knows each other’s business. People thrived on the trivial gossip because it broke up the monotony of their lives, trapped in a tin can. A scandal like the Griffins’ had practically breathed new life back into the denizens of the Ark.

To be fair, the Council and the guards did their best to keep the details of what happened to Jake and Clarke Griffin confidential, but that only fueled speculation. The gossips all came out of the proverbial woodwork and converged on the bar to host their _salon de bavardage_. Theories abounded and Gina had the reluctant privilege of listening to them all, each more absurd than the last.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Kyle Wick, a normally boisterous engineer, insisted one night as the evening rush died down. He stared down into his mug, as if waiting for the answers to float to the surface. “Griffin was one of my mentors—one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet, and best friends with the fucking chancellor! The guy’s not capable of treason.” He took another long gulp of his drink. “Something’s going around here, something they’re not telling us.”

“Perhaps,” Jacapo Sinclair drawled, brow quirked skeptically. “But I think it would be wise to drop the subject.” He nodded his head towards Bellamy, sitting at the end of the counter still in his guard uniform. “Idle speculation doesn’t help anyone.”

Bellamy glanced up and met their gaze. He raised his glass, “Don’t mind me; it’s above my paygrade.”

“Even still,” Sinclair replied, draining the last of his. He rose from his seat, followed by Wick. “Always a pleasure, Gina.”

“Hey, if you see Reyes…” Wick grinned, wagging his brows.

“I’ll tell her to keep her cute butt far, _far_ away from you,” Gina huffed at his retreating figure. She shook her head. “Idiot,” she muttered under her breath.

Bellamy snorted.

Gina’s head snapped in his direction. His hand was covering his mouth, trying and failing to hide his smirk. It was a good look on him. “Need another?” she asked, gesturing to his nearly empty mug.

“No, I should be good with this.”

Gina nodded, worrying her lip. Sinclair and Wick’s conversation had her mind whirling. Normally, she ignored gossip but the whole situation with the Griffins was weird. Right? She said as much to Bellamy. “I mean, why are they being so tight-lipped about it? Normally they publicize transgressions, in some small way, to set an example for the people on the Ark. How do they expect us to stay in line if we don’t even know what they did wrong to begin with?”

Bellamy shrugged. “The whole thing has been pretty need-to-know,” he said carefully. “I’m just a cadet… So, obviously not your reliable source of Griffin-related news.”

She pressed her lips in a tight line. “Right. Still a shame though.”

“Yeah. He seemed like a decent enough guy the handful of times I talked to him during a guard rotation.”

“Not a fan of the daughter?” She wondered for the first time in months if Clarke ever got another chance to draw him.

“Never met the princess,” he admitted, “and, frankly, I don’t really care one way or another. Doesn’t affect me and I’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

* * *

 

All rumors run their course, even ones as juicy and mystifying as the Griffin controversy. Eventually, a new scandal must take over. Unfortunately, the only gossip more intriguing than Jake and Clarke Griffin’s supposed treason was the discovery of Octavia Blake at the Unity Day dance.

It seemed impossible when she heard it. A second child, hidden under the floor for fifteen years! Unfathomable. Then word got around that they had floated Aurora Blake and that they locked the girl away in the skybox. It nauseated Gina. Unlike with the Griffins, everyone knew exactly what had happened to the Blake family and everyone had an opinion about it. Most people were impressed by the sheer longevity of the whole situation. Others were irate that an unregistered citizen was taking advantage of their limited resources. Gina had to kick out no less than seven patrons of the bar for calling Aurora a whore and saying that they should have floated Octavia too since she wasn’t even supposed to exist.

Bellamy stopped coming to the bar.

It had been weeks since the initial news broke and none of her regular patrons had seen him around. Not that she had been asking. She really only had to listen to the ship’s gossips’ chatter to find out that he had been rather elusive. One night, as Gina headed back to her apartment, she caught a glimpse of him at the end of the hall, head bowed and shoulders slumped, the picture of defeat. He dunked his mop into his rusty bucket, sloshing water around in a way she was certain would garner a scolding if anyone of rank saw. He heaved a sigh, ducking down to wipe of the mess.

Gina felt torn between going to offer her help and pretending she had not noticed. On the one hand, it was awful to see someone who had such a bright future be lowered to such a state, all because he protected his family. On the other, she knew instinctually that Bellamy Blake most certainly would not appreciate her pity, no matter how well intended. However, before she could decide for herself, her choice was made for her when a small group of cadets approached him. They had obviously come from some sort of training course because they were grinning and their hair was plastered to their foreheads with sweat.

“Hey,” a tall, burly man said, kicking the bucket to draw Bellamy’s attention, “you missed a spot.” He took the towel draped over his shoulders, blotted his face, and wrung it out, dripping an appalling amount of fresh sweat on the floor. Gina wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Apparently at his rope’s end that day, Bellamy stood, chin jutted out and fists clenched, and glared at the cadet. “Graham,” he growled and the other man smirked.

“So this is where they sent you?” Graham sneered, obviously enjoying himself. “I would have thought they’d’ve floated you along with your whore of a mother.”

Before another word could be spoken, Gina strode down the hallway with purpose, calling out Bellamy’s name. The men turned and looked at her with confusion and a mixture of anger and intrigue. She smiled sunnily at Bellamy, “There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

His brows furrowed. “You have?”

Gina silently prayed to whatever deity was out there that Bellamy would play along and said, “Don’t tell me you forgot. You promised you’d help me fix that thing in my apartment. I’d ask Wick, but we both know how easily distracted he gets…”

“Uh…right. Sorry,” he said returning her smile hesitantly. “I didn’t mean to forget. Let me just…” he gestured towards his abandoned mop.

“Right, let me help you with that,” she said, scooping up the bucket. She turned towards the other three with a coquettish smile. “You boys don’t mind if I borrow him, do you? Thanks.” She fluttered her lashes for good measure, internally groaning at her performance. Luckily, they either bought her faux flirtation or were not nearly as invested in their confrontation with their former fellow guardsman as they seemed because they let them pass without further comment. With her free arm, she took his elbow and guided him around the corner towards the nearest broom closet.

When they were safely out of earshot, he yanked away from her grasp. “What the hell was that?”

“ _That_ ,” Gina hissed, stowing the bucket away before wheeling on him, “is a friend helping a _friend_ stay out of trouble. You looked like you were about two seconds away from punching that guy,” she continues, hands on her hips. “They would have floated you, Bellamy. And who would that have helped? Not you, not your mom, and certainly not Octavia.”

He eyed her speculatively, his eyes harder than she had ever seen. “Why do you care?” he asked slowly, articulating every syllable.

“Because you seem like a good person. And these days, that’s a rare thing.”

He gaped at her, mouth working to find words and coming up empty. Gina relaxed her stance, dropping her arms with a sigh. “Look,” she continued, “I can’t even begin to imagine what you must be feeling right now. But if you ever need someone to talk to, you can come to me; I’ll listen.” She reached out to him, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze, before turning and continuing down the hall back to her room.

“Gina,” he called, just as she was about to turn the corner. She glanced over her shoulder to see him standing where she left him, the ghost of a smile on his lips. “Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you liked what you read, let me know by hitting that Kudos button and leaving a comment below. Also, join me on [my tumblr](http://skepticalbeliever1.tumblr.com/) for more The 100 related geeking. I'm also accepting prompts, so hit me!


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